More low income households struggling because of lockdown will soon be able to get hardship support from Work and Income.
The prolonged Covid-19 restrictions are hurting poorer households, who tend to have less certainty around their work, Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni acknowledges. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The government has decided to temporarily lift the income limits for people who need help to pay for essentials.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said the prolonged Covid-19 restrictions are hurting poorer households, who tend to have less certainty around their work.
The changes will mean people working 40 hours a week on the minimum wage will be able to get grants to pay for food and other bills.
For a single person, that's $800 a week, or $1600 a week for a couple, with or without children.
It's expected about 25,000 more grants could be handed out as a result of the changes.
The new limits come into effect at the start of November and will be in place until the end of February.
The initiative will cost just under $10 million.
The money is coming from the government's Covid-19 response and recovery fund.
Sepuloni said the Ministry of Social Development will be running a campaign to ensure people are aware they can get support if they need it.
She said the government was continuing to monitor need in the community, and it would respond as it needed to.